


Specs Appeal

by draconica



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 12:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30088866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/draconica/pseuds/draconica
Summary: When Nick finds out he has to start wearing glasses he takes it that it's all downhill from here. It's up to Ellis to try and convince him otherwise.
Relationships: Ellis & Nick (Left 4 Dead), Ellis/Nick (Left 4 Dead)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	Specs Appeal

Ellis was just sifting through the collection of vinyl records that sat on the shelves in their living room, trying to find some good music to listen to while he did a bit of housework, when Nick returned home from the city. He’d gone out to pick up a new suit and a few other things and by the look of the Armani bag on his right arm, he’d been successful. So why did he look so grouchy? Or more so than usual.

“Hey, Overalls.” He pecked his partner on the lips as he passed by and Ellis caught his eyes as he did so. He could tell something was bothering him; those low drawn eyebrows and creased frown were dead giveaways.

“What’s up, darlin’?” he asked as he put the records back for the moment, following Nick into the kitchen. “You get a good suit?”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Nick shrugged, placing his bags onto the counter and went to pour himself a lemonade from the fridge. Ellis had a peek into the bag; it was a lovely dark blue color from what he could see.

“Looks pretty nice,” he commented. “But why’re you so down in the dumps?”

Nick looked at him, his glass paused before his lips. “What makes you think that?”

The mechanic leant back against the counter, giving Nick a look right back. “Sometimes I think I’m datin’ a horse, that face ‘o yers is so long.”

“Yeah, you’d like that wouldn’t you?” Nick smirked and took a swig of his soda. “Ellis, if I tell you, you’ll just laugh and be all ‘it’s no big deal, yer overreacting!’” he mimicked the Southerner’s accent, affectionately so, and swirled the lemonade as if it were scotch in a tumbler. Old habits die hard.

Ellis couldn’t help but laugh. “All right. If you tell me, I promise I won’t say anythin’ like that.” He scooted over just a little and leant forward, a slight tilt to his head as he tried to catch Nick’s eyes. “What’s the problem?”

He looked stupidly adorable like that and of course Nick could feel his heart strings tugging even more. He sighed.

“Well... recently I’ve been having trouble seeing far off things, like they get a bit blurry after a certain distance,” he explained, and then the rest looked almost painful for him to say. “So, I went to get my eyes checked out and… and they told me I need to start wearing glasses.”

Ellis nodded, waiting to see if there was more to this story. But apparently that was the end. “That’s it? That’s all that’s botherin’ you?” The conman shot him a glare, causing Ellis to immediately back pedal. “Oh! O-oh, I mean, glasses? Shit, tha’s too bad, Nick! Really, findin’ out ya gotta wear some dumb glasses is the worse kinda shit.”

There was obviously no sincerity to those sympathies at all, confirmed when Ellis suddenly snorted as he tried to hold in laughter and failed. Nick snarled and gave his partner a gentle shove, making to walk out of the room. “Great, thanks for the support, El.”

“All right, I’m sorry!” Ellis trailed him, taking his wrist and tugging him back in apology. “I’m sorry, but it really ain’t a big deal, darlin’. I mean, what’s the problem with wearin’ glasses?”

“Ellis, I’m _old_ ,” Nick sighed at him, taking his wrist from Ellis’s hand so that they can twine their fingers together. “I’m nearly forty and my eyes are starting to give up on me. You know who wears glasses? Grandfathers. Old people. I’m two years away from a belly brace and a bald spot. It’s all downhill from here.”

The younger male tilted his head again, looking at Nick like he was crazy. “What? My grandpa never wore glasses.”

Nick wanted to be pissed at Ellis for saying something so idiotic during his midlife crisis, but one look at that face and he couldn’t do it. He reached up and pinched Ellis’s cheek, a small smile on his face. “God, kid. You are so goddamn cute, y’know that?”

The mechanic grinned a little and batted his hand away, taking it and squeezing it gently. “Nick, jus’ because you gotta get glasses, doesn’t mean you're an old man. I sure as hell ain’t gonna love you any less because of ‘em.”

“Oh yeah? Will you still love me when I crash the car because I can’t see?”

“Nick,” Ellis chuckled and pat his stubbly cheek. “Yer not old. And trust me when I say that glasses will just make ya look even more handsome.”

The older man scoffed. “Right, how d’you know that, Overalls?”

“C’mere.” Ellis took Nick’s hand and led him back into the living room, sitting down on the couch with him and pulling his cell phone from his pocket. Nick scoffed again – Ellis could never part with that thing. Sometimes it drove him crazy.

After tapping and swiping a few times, Ellis held the phone up so Nick could see.

“That there is Robert Downey Jr.”

“Ellis, I know who Robert Downey Jr. is. We watch the same movies.”

“Right, right,” Ellis grinned once more, his dimples pinching. “Anyways, he’s a good lookin’ guy and he wears glasses, see? And how old d’you reckon he is?”

Nick didn’t really have any clue. “I dunno. Forty?”

The mechanic’s grin grew. “Nick, he’s nearly fifty. He ain’t old, in fact he prob’ly looks better the older he gets.”

The gambler pushed the phone away. “What’s your point, fireball?”

“My point is that glasses ain’t a sign you're gettin’ older. They’re gonna make you look more, uh… sophisticated. And smart! All that shit, man.”

Nick didn’t hate a lot about his boyfriend, but he did hate how most of the time he was right in their disagreements. He had the most persuasive energy and those goddamn puppy eyes that could turn any nay-sayers on their heels in an instant. He snorted, letting his hand move down to rest affectionately on Ellis’s knee. “You have a weird way of cheering me up.” he admitted. “Anyway, I have to go back in next week to pick the glasses up when they’re ready and you can keep your judgements on them ‘till then, okay?” He flicked his gaze down to Ellis’s phone as he tapped away again. “Why do you have a picture of Robert Downey Jr. on your phone, anyway?”

Blushing fiercely, Ellis put the cell back into his pocket. “Shit… you ain’t never had any celebrity crushes b’fore?”

“Oh, sure,” Nick chuckled, reaching up to ruffle Ellis’ hair. “I’m just a lot more subtle.”

The kid jumped on him, curling into his lap as he flicked on the TV for them both. “Shuddup.”

~~~

One week later and Nick stepped back through the front door, slipping off his shoes and hanging up his coat. Ellis was playing on his games console at the time, but paused his game long enough to look back over his shoulder at his older partner, throwing him a smile. “How’d it go? You get ‘em?”

Nick placed his car keys on the dresser and reached into his shoulder bag. “Yeah, I got the stupid glasses.”

“Oh, hey! Lemme see, try ‘em on!” Ellis zipped out from around the couch and skipped up to him, but Nick held out his hand.

“Hold your horses, kiddo. I’m gonna go change first.”

“Change?” Ellis looked at the man up and down, confused. “But darlin’, you look fine.”

“Well, sure,” Nick smiled and kissed Ellis’ forehead before moving to go upstairs. “But I want to test out this whole ‘better looking with age’ thing the best way I can.”

Ellis wasn’t entirely sure just what Nick was getting at, the conman a little too subtle and cryptic sometimes. With a small shrug, he went back to playing his alien shooter game.

It wasn’t that long before he could hear Nick stepping downstairs again, at which point he was locked in a ferocious laser gun battle with a man-eating space monster.

“What d’ya think?” Nick asked him casually and it took Ellis a few seconds to register it.

“Huh?” he looked around and all of a sudden, the video game was the last thing on his mind.

Nick was dressed in his new dark blue suit, thin black tie and shiny black shoes. His hair was slicked back as usual, but there were a pair of dark rimmed glasses on his face, framing his green eyes as if they were the latest artistic masterpiece. Nick had always been the coolest person he knew, but this was something else. How was it even possible to be both cool and hot?

“Wow,” he bit his lip and stood, walking to where his lover was waiting with a shining white smile.

“That good, huh?” Nick chuckled, reaching up and adjusting the spectacles on his face.

“You get this tailored?” Ellis asked, reaching out to touch Nick as soon as he was close enough, running his hand down the dark blue suit jacket and then onto his shirt, feeling the chest underneath. “Looks real nice on you…”

Nick just smiled, looping his arm loosely around his lover’s waist. “And the specs?”

Ellis looked up into his eyes as he asked, admiring how his glasses really did suit him. “I knew they’d make you look good,” he grinned. “S’great that they’ll help yer eyesight, but they also make ya look damn fine.”

“Thanks, Overalls.” Nick smirked, not being able to resist tugging his boyfriend even closer. His gaze flicked over Ellis’s shoulder to the TV, then back to Ellis. “Looks you just got a game over.”

“I don’t feel it,” Ellis shot back, playing with Nick’s tie between his fingers. “Think I just won the jackpot.”

Nick laughed, submitting to Ellis’s desire and kissed him on the lips, letting it linger. He certainly didn’t feel old at the moment and again, Ellis had been right. Perhaps these glasses weren’t so bad after all.

“Damn it, I love you, Ellis.”

“Love you, too, Nick. ’Ey, can ya do me a favor?”

The older man blinked at him. “What is it?”

“Put them glasses on the end of yer nose for a sec.”

He was confused but obeyed Ellis anyway, moving them down so that he could look at him over the top. Ellis grinned.

“Now spank me and call me a bad boy.”

Laughing, Nick gave him a playful shove. “Maybe later.”


End file.
